Reviews

Friday, September 27, 2013

I am excited to announce that my new book The Girl who Sang with Whales, book #1 in the IsleSong series, will be published soon. I'm targeting October 2013 for release.

Imagine an island world where the seas seethe with dangerous creatures, where those rare men and women called Bard-Navigators have learned to sing Whales to protect their ships. Only on the wings of Bardsong can ships avoid the Sea-Dragons and travel the great gulf between the Atolls scattered across the World-Sea.

I sang to the Sea; She sang back to me,

Tales and travails wreathed in mystery.

Zhialeiana has an astonishing gift of song.She can sing the unique songs of the mighty and magical creatures of the World-Sea. She can touch their souls. When her gift is discovered at her mother's funeral, the current of her life begins to sweep her to a future that she could never have imagined. She must navigate both opportunity and danger, and lay her life on the line for the Whales she loves. But Zhialeiana also has a toxic secret - a secret that will force her to undertake a journey beyond faith, beyond all hope, and beyond the World-Sea.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Recently there's been some discussion about Amazon not paying all the royalties authors are entitled to. Here I am talking about print copies which have been published via CreateSpace. So I decided to try them out.

Yesterday a friend placed an order for 3 print copies of the first book in my Shioni of Sheba series, The Enchanted Castle, on Amazon.co.uk. The order showed up on my royalty report within 24 hours. Now that's decent service, well done, Amazon!

However Amazon.com has been less impressive. I helped a friend place an order for 1 print copy of each of my books on September 5th (you'd think that should be easy to track...). The order was delivered on the 14th, and as of today the 19th, nothing. I've contacted CreateSpace customer service with the order details to see what they say. More on this when I hear from them!

If this happens to me, and I am relatively small fry in the world of book sales at present, then I wonder what other authors are missing out on. And surely Amazon is legally liable to pay out royalties due to authors? I wonder what the scale of these 'glitches' are, which are surely helping Amazon's profitability?

Monday, September 16, 2013

I am currently planning the next 3 novels in the Shioni of Sheba series:

The Sacred Lake

The Fiuri Realms

The Black-Maned Lion

Let me know what you think. How would you like the series to proceed? I'd love to hear from you!

In The Sacred Lake Shioni is part of an expedition to Lake Tana where she must find a cure for the King of West Sheba. But first the Shebans must pass through the ancient city of Gondar and win the favour of its ruler, the Priest-King Tewodros. But peril awaits - can the King of Gondar be trusted?

The Fiuri Realms takes Shioni to a place she had never imagined, home of the Fiuri Azurelle, to discover (maybe...) the source of her power. Azurelle wants to win back her power from the treacherous Tazaka and so return home. But Kalcha has other plans, plans that do not include a happy ending for anyone who has dared to cross her.

And in The Black-Maned Lion Shioni must explore the secret world of the lions of the Simien Mountains. When the Sheban warriors dare to kill a lion, one of Anbessa's own, they incur the wrath of the Lord of the Mountains. Can Shioni win back his trust? Or have the Shebans brought their own doom upon themselves?